Putin to Require Ratification of Kyoto Protocol at G8 Summit

Russian President Vladimir Putin will suggest discussing at the G8 summit in Genoa the terms for the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol which provides for limiting the emission of substances destroying the atmosphere's ozone layer, Russian media reported Monday.

Russia is observing the Kyoto Protocol and will ask the other signatories to carry out their commitments, too, Putin was cited as saying in an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera published Monday, prior to the coming Group of Eight summit to be held in the Italian city of Genoa later this week.

Now that the U.S. has announced that it will defy the document, "Russia's position is rather important, as Russia accounts for a large share of emissions," Putin said. "We must decide on the terms for us to finally ratify this protocol," he said.

"The problems of gene engineering, the human genome and the cloning of individual tissues constitute an important present-day problem," the Russian president said.

"I don't think progress can be stopped. And no one should try to do so. But one must solve the moral and ethical problems that are arising in this connection. And common rules must be worked out," Putin stressed.






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